43 within 3½ hours · 20 under 2 hours
Toluca is ten minutes from Metepec, the pottery town of the tree-of-life candelabra, and an hour from the hot springs of Ixtapan de la Sal and Tonatico, the lake of Valle de Bravo and the rock-cut Aztec temple of Malinalco. The old mining towns of El Oro and Tlalpujahua, and the monarch butterfly sanctuaries at Angangueo, are an hour and a half northwest. Tepotzotlán, Tepoztlán and Taxco are all under two hours. Few cities in Mexico have as much variety this close.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 20
Close enough to drive there and back from Toluca in a day. Closest first.
51 min · 65 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Aug, Sep
~1 h 11 min · 70 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Sep, Dec
1 h 21 min · 94 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Sep, Dec
~1 h 35 min · 105 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec
1 h 40 min · 121 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Feb, May, Jul, Oct, Dec
~1 h 50 min · 125 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Dec
~2 h · 135 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Dec
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 23
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 40 min · 180 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Jun, Oct
~2 h 45 min · 185 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Nov
~3 h 10 min · 215 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, May, Jul, Sep, Oct
~3 h 20 min · 225 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Feb, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov
On the map
Getting there
Toluca has its own airport, Toluca (TLC), so you can fly in and rent a car there.
A car is the easiest way to reach most of these towns; the bigger ones also have direct buses from Toluca. Each pueblo's page has its own getting-there notes.
Drive times are from OpenStreetMap routing without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance and may run longer on mountain roads.